it all sounds good, but.....

"I don't see the need to criticise those who have invested $70 K in digital systems"

not criticising about how much a person spends. just saying it didnt sound real. I dont really care if you spend 200k on a system. like you said, as long as it makes you happy.

Something that sounds real, may not sound good and something that sounds good may not sound real.

Oh well... gonna have to go kidnap the musicians and lock em up in my closet takin them out when i wanna listen.. hehe

Real is sometimes very dependent on room acoustics. Before you start with lp, try playing around with room placement and maybe a little at a time add some acoustic treatments to your room. I would still purchase a budget table, then play around with vinyl. Then GO start collecting vinyl, it really is that good.

You have to get a system that makes you happy. No matter if it sounds real or not. Most mixes on CD' s are not real. Lots of music today is mixed in a studio from different recordings taken at different times at different locations. Anything real about that? But often the sound is fantastic.
LPs do not sound real either , because their frequency response was limited below 50 Hz in order to get all the music on the vinyl (no real deep bass on them) and in order to avoid power line noise sneaking in. All that was corrected for with the RIA equalisation.
Very little is real real today. Which does not mean that it is no good. Look at all the women with silicone implants. Some look terrific. They may not be real but wouldn't you.?

I presntly have a digital front end system which reproduces live music quite well. I go to Operas, symphonies and Jazz concerts, come home and almost duplicate the performance with a similar performance on a red book CD. See my system. Lots of tweeks have helped. On the other hand when I played vinyl for about 30 years with a good front end, my music sometimes did not sound "real" for a variety of reasons including some sterile sounding SS amps! I also had some very unreal sounding CDPs. The expensive equipment is not necessarily the answer. Sub 20k digital systems can sound quite natural. Getting rid of "digital grunge" RF and EMI noise problems is very important. It's also that odd order distortion that grates on the ears, All my electronics seem to be low on that. The master tape remastering to CD format is much better then previously. JVC K2 technology has been very good. I have many beautiful remastered CDs from the late 50s and 60s. CDPs in the last 5 years or so seem to sound much more musical.

Scott Nixon DAC through a tube pre-amp or a Tube Dac will warm up the CD sound. Being old enough to remember when CD didn't exist, I also remember what a pain in the rear vinyl was.